It is a time of fear in the face of freedom, a time of an emptying country and swelling cities, a time for the widening of previous roads and the opening of new paths, yet a time when these paths are mined by knowing algorithms of the all-seeing eye. It is the time of the warrior's peace and the miser's charity, when the planting of a seed is an act of conscientious objection. These are the times when maps fade, old landmarks crumble and direction is lost. Forwards is backwards now, so we glance sideways at the strange lands through which we are all passing, knowing for certain only that our destination has disappeared. We are unready to meet these times, but we proceed nonetheless, adapting as we wander, reshaping the Earth with every tread. Behind us we have left the old times, the standard times, the high times. Welcome to the irregular times.

Bloodbath In Afghanistan

“…skin burnt black and peeling off to expose raw red muscle. Others were so badly wounded, they were incapable of crying, with their badly burnt clothes stuck to their flesh.”

“Everyone around the fuel tanker died. Nobody was in one piece. Hands, legs and body parts were scattered everywhere. Those who were away from the fuel tanker were badly burnt.”

Taliban fighters stole two fuel tankers full of diesel from foreign fighters in north central Afghanistan. One they got away with. One got stuck. So, the Taliban opened that tanker up to villagers nearby, telling them that they could take the fuel. Huge numbers of villagers swarmed to the tanker, carrying jugs and buckets – whatever containers they happened to have around their homes. It is said some Taliban fighters were still on top of it.

That’s when the bombing took place. An airplane operated by the coalition of foreign fighters attacked the stuck fuel tanker surrounded by civilians. Exactly what kind of weapon was used isn’t certain, but the tanker of diesel exploded as a result of the attack. Huge numbers of civilians died. Huge numbers were terribly injured.

Should the Taliban have hijacked the tankers? No. Should they have invited villagers to run up and take the fuel? No. Should the coalition of foreign fighters have bombed the tanker when it was surrounded by civilians? Some people are going to say yes, because that coalition is controlled by the U.S. military, or because there were Taliban there too, or because that’s just the sort of thing that happens in a war.

2 comments to Bloodbath In Afghanistan

The war is wrong from the beginning – we don’t belong there, we aren’t welcome there by the populace, and our mission has not clearly been identified except to prop up a weak government. Like in Iraq as the death toll to both civilians, the resistance, and the military and police of both countries and whoever is left of the “coalition forces” grows daily, war is just not a good idea. Atrocities are swept away as “collateral damage”.

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